Night Watch: TOKYO – This combined operation, reported in the Japan Times, between Tokyo-Washington will convince Pyongyang to be more agreeable in its negotiations with Japan and the U. S. Money laundering was one of the ways Pyongyang was attracting revenue to its desperate economy and I suspect to sustain the luxurious lifestyle of the country’s elite. [Japan Times]

The other source of income for North Korea’s economy is its continued sales of nuclear and missile technology they have been exporting to the Middle East, and with Beijing’s constant encouragement, beginnng with the Iran/Iraq War of the 1980’s. Fortunately, as crossfirewar.com has mentioned, there are serious indications Pyongyang wants to be a more open economy like South Korea but in order for that to happen Beijing will have to become less prominent in world affairs.

With the enormous corruption spreading across China their influence will be greatly reduced this year. A few years ago a Chinese government official admitted that corruption in China is worse than before 1949. Corruption with Chinese characteristics that will lead to another civil war of which China has a long, storied history. That is why Hu Jintao and Shanghai held a recent exhibition in Beijing promoting Mongolian enterprises. They know Ulan Bator will fill the vaccum Beijing will leave in its wake, as the current capital becomes a polluted, cultural, and historical attraction between dust storms, ghosts of governments and demonstrations past.

What will add to Mongolia’s appeal to a lot of China’s population is that Ulan Bator does have elections and a more representative administration.

Willard Payne is an international affairs analyst who specializes in International Relations. A graduate of Western Illinois University with a concentration in East-West Trade and East-West Industrial Cooperation, he has been providing incisive analysis to NewsBlaze. He is the author of Imagery: The Day Before.